Talk:Pancreas
The following explanations is not shown to apply to cats. It may be taken from a reference about human or canine diabetes, I don't know. The beta cells release insulin after meals in 2 phases. The first one begins immediately. If the glucose level rises over 100 mg/dl or 5.5 mmo/L, more insulin will be forthcoming in the first phase release of it. In non-diabetics, the first-phase release begins minutes after they begin a meal. A non-diabetic's post-prandial peak is about 30 minutes after the meal has begun. After this phase one, the beta cells take a break. If the blood glucose level is still over 100 or 5.5, they produce a second, smaller "wave" of insulin about an hour after the meal is finished. In about 2 hours after a meal has ended, the blood glucose levels of a non-diabetic have returned to their lower, pre-food status. If one has some beta cells which are still working properly, their fasting blood glucose levels can often be at or near normal non-diabetic levels. With the absence of food through the night, the beta cells are able to finally produce enough insulin to get things done properly. Because they have "spent" all the insulin they've stored for the time being, there will be little or no insulin left in them to handle the morning meal and its increased insulin demands. And this means that any post-meal readings will be in the abnormal range, since there's simply not enough stored insulin to handle the food. The beta cells are capable of taking care of the body's basal or basic need for insulin, but not the increased need which occurs after eating. Some people with this type (type 2) of diabetes often use a short-acting bolus insulin to take care of the increased need at meals. Pancreas Function We hope 19:51, 28 April 2006 (UTC) Wiki copy: The beta cells release insulin after meals in 2 phases. The first one begins immediately. If the glucose level rises over 100 mg/dl or 5.5 mmo/L, more insulin will be forthcoming in the first phase release of it. In non-diabetics, the first-phase release begins minutes after they begin a meal. A non-diabetic's post-prandial peak is about 30 minutes after the meal has begun. After this phase one, the beta cells take a break. If the blood glucose level is still over 100 or 5.5, they produce a second, smaller "wave" of insulin about an hour after the meal is finished. In about 2 hours after a meal has ended, the blood glucose levels of a non-diabetic have returned to their lower, pre-food status. Everyone's fully or partly-functioning pancreas produces insulin in 2 phases, so it's roughly the same for all. http://ajp.amjpathol.org/cgi/content/full/157/6/2143 Feline Model of Experimentally-Induced Islet Amyloidosis Results--Diabetes Induction Period "The insulin release pattern was the first to change. First phase insulin release became delayed and smaller, whereas second phase became more exaggerated. The fasting blood glucose did not become abnormal until first phase insulin secretion had almost completely disappeared and the amount of insulin secreted during the 2-hour test had dropped about fivefold." Wiki copy: If one has some beta cells which are still working properly, their fasting blood glucose levels can often be at or near normal non-diabetic levels. With the absence of food through the night, the beta cells are able to finally produce enough insulin to get things done properly. Because they have "spent" all the insulin they've stored for the time being, there will be little or no insulin left in them to handle the morning meal and its increased insulin demands. And this means that any post-meal readings will be in the abnormal range, since there's simply not enough stored insulin to handle the food. The beta cells are capable of taking care of the body's basal or basic need for insulin, but not the increased need which occurs after eating. Some people with this type (type 2) of diabetes often use a short-acting bolus insulin to take care of the increased need at meals. http://ajp.amjpathol.org/cgi/content/full/157/6/2143 Abstract "The domestic cat, by virtue of the fact that it is one of few species than spontaneously develop a form of diabetes mellitus that closely resembles human type 2 diabetes, including the formation of amyloid deposits derived from islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP), was considered to be an excellent candidate species in which to attempt to develop a nontransgenic animal model for this disease process." Non-IDDM diabetics can show normal/near normal fasting bg's, because without the addition of food, the pancreas is producing enough basal insulin. Adding food increases the "load" which the partially functioning pancreas can't handle without help. The URL above has some graphs & photos re: amyloid deposits. It compared glipizide and insulin treatments; graphs & photos illustrate the difference in deposits between glipizide-treated and insulin-treated cats. Kathy